A group of nurses fanned out Monday evening in a Central El Paso neighborhood to ask residents to sign a petition in support of El Paso Children's Hospital and nurses.

The walk-and-talk campaign by the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas followed a rally and news conference by nurses at Memorial Park.

The National Nurses Organizing Committee is a labor organization that represents about 1,500 registered nurses in El Paso.

"NNOC-Texas is following with great concern the unfolding situation at Children's Hospital and its effects on the public hospital district," the nurse organization said in a statement. "We know that nurses at Children's (Hospital) have serious patient care concerns that they intend to raise with their administration. We urge Children's Hospital's nursing management to listen very closely to what these nurses have to say."

REPORTER

Diana Washington Valdez

Monica Martell, a member of NNOC, said the organization believes the nurse to patient ratio needs to improve at Children's Hospital.

Patients in critical care should have a one nurse per patient ratio or one nurse per two patients at most, she said.

"We understand that nurses are having to care for up to four to six critical care patients, and this is unacceptable," said Martell at the rally at Memorial Park. "It puts children in jeopardy, and that is our greatest concern."

Martell said El Paso has a nursing shortage, and that instability at health institutions is causing nurses who graduate from the local nursing schools to leave the city or simply head out to other places to exercise their profession.

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"El Paso Children's Hospital is a nonprofit hospital dedicated to serving all children, all the time. We rely on the support and generosity of the community in helping us meet our mission of improving the health of El Paso children," hospital spokeswoman Susie Byrd said in a statement.

El Paso Children's Hospital is in the middle of trying to renegotiate its financial debt with University Medical Center of El Paso. The hospital is disputing the amount of the debt it owes.

Paula Littles reads a pamphlet with a message from nurses they handed out door-to-door Monday. (MARK LAMBIE—EL PASO TIMES )

"Children's was funded by community resources and continues to be subsidized by public monies," according to NNOC. "Members of our community as well as employed nurses and other hospital workers at Children's Hospital have a significant voice in the outcome."

Prior to the 5 p.m. rally on Monday, the NNOC had its statewide meeting in El Paso. One of the organization's national leaders traveled from Bangor, Maine, for the gathering.

Luz Macias, a homeowner in the 3000 block of Richmond Avenue, was among neighbors in her block who signed the petition in support of El Paso Children's Hospital and nursing care.

"I have six grandchildren who are very active and might need to use the hospital some day," Macias said. "I appreciate what the nurses are doing because it shows me that they care."

At the rally, Audrina Bevan, another nurse, said, "We want the nurses to know that whatever happens at Children's Hospital, we will support them."